Old age pensioners in Ireland enjoy free passports since last month, August 2005. Over 60,000 of them will benefit from the move announced by Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern.

Citizens aged 18 to 64 will continue to pay 75 for passports, which are good for ten years. In 2004 the fee payable by senior citizens was reduced to 25. That is now reduced to zero. The elimination of passport fees for those 65 years and older has been widely welcomed.

One overlooked feature of the new zero-cost passport scheme is that it also applies to seniors holding dual citizenship, including those resident in other countries.

"It is important to stress that this move also applies to our senior citizens in Northern Ireland and to those senior citizens who emigrated from Ireland and are today living abroad. It complements the Government's pre-1953 pension scheme and the significant increases we are funding for groups assisting the Irish abroad," said Mr. Ahern.

The initiative was a "small but significant contribution to those people who contributed to the type of society we have today at a time when it was much more economically difficult in this country".

In Canada there is no reduction in fees charged to seniors for passports.

Currently, it costs $87.00 to get a passport. For children the fee is or $37.00 (ages 3 to 15).

Surprisingly, the fees charged by the Government of Australia for its passports are much higher. The rates there are: $144.00 for adults, $ 72.00 for minors (under 18), and $72 for seniors (75 and over).

Given that the reason for the elimination of passport fees for seniors in Ireland was because seniors had "contributed to the type of society we have today", a similar step should commend itself to the Government of Canada.

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